CDP-choline stabilized effects from patching therapy for pediatric amblyopia

Treating children who have amblyopia with cytidine 5-diphosphocholine, in addition to patching therapy, may help maintain the improvements in vision after treatment is stopped, according to a study by researchers in Italy.

Emilio C. Campos, MD, and colleagues randomly assigned 61 children with anisometropic or strasbismic amblyopia to one of two treatment groups. One group of children completed 2 hours of patching daily with additional treatment with cytidine 5-diphosphocholine (CDP-choline), which was administered orally at a dose of 800 mg or 1,200 mg, depending on body weight. The second group completed 2 hours of patching daily only.

Children were aged 5 to 10 years. Both groups continued treatment for 30 consecutive days, with a follow-up examination performed 60 days after ceasing treatment, according to the study.

At 30 days, both groups had similar improvements in vision. However, the addition of CDP-choline stabilized the effects of treatment, the authors said.

Children who received CDP-choline maintained their improvements in visual acuity at 90 days, whereas children who received patching alone showed a decrease in vision (P = .0042), they said.

The study is published in the December issue of Graefe's Archive for Clinical and Experimental Ophthalmology.